


The Stars Will Guide You Home

by sleepydanceur



Series: Jongin's Birthday Fic Countdown [10]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 23:36:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5721310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepydanceur/pseuds/sleepydanceur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Space!AU Jongin is a quantum astrophysicist who gets stranded in space when his ship malfunctions. Chanyeol is the captain who finds him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stars Will Guide You Home

**Author's Note:**

> D-DAY!!!!! #HappyJonginDay I'M FINALLY DONE!  
> Thank you all who have been reading, I hope you guys have enjoyed it ;u;
> 
> Happy birthday Jongin, my sweetest sunshine and brightest star light. I wish you all the happiness and health in the whole world, you deserve all the best things in life.
> 
> MY SWEET MUFFIN ILU T___T
> 
>  
> 
> GIANT DISCLAIMER: I did as much research as I could but a lot of it was dealing with abstract things that only exist theoretically, like wormholes themselves, so a lot of the things I've written about are purely, absolutely fictional.

“So, you ready to go home?”

Jongin grins over the documents he’s straightening, setting them neatly into a file. Moonkyu looks up at him from where he’s trying to dismantle the contraption in front of him.

“Hell yeah,” he answers with feeling. “I’m so ready to eat an actual burger. Double patty with extra cheese _god_ I can almost taste it.”

Jongin laughs at the wistful look on Moonkyu’s face, already half drooling at the thought.

“And you’re coming with me,” he adds decisively. “We’re gonna order every burger they’ve got and eat them all. My treat.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Jongin grins, reaching out to bump his knuckles against Moonkyu’s offered fist.

It’s been two months since they were launched into space on this small ship, stationed on the periphery of Earth’s exosphere. This is their second trip together as a team on the data collection assignment. Wormhole dynamic manipulation is a long enough process to analyze before they can work on understanding it all. As the lead quantum astrophysicist on the project, Jongin does most of the particle analysis of the wormholes while Moonkyu takes over the engineering and mechanics part of the assignment.

The job is to collect enough data on the exotic matter and negative energy density to try and replicate it back on Earth. Jongin’s company has been working on revolutionizing transport systems on a global level with artificial wormholes once they’ve worked out all the frequencies of the electromagnetic waves and how to stabilize them. It’s a well known fact that traveling through a wormhole is a bumpy ride, bringing nasty side effects if entered wrongly. Portals have been effective transport systems out in space for years, but replicating a smaller, more stable version for use within the earth’s atmosphere is taking a while to piece together.

Their assigned time up here is finally up, and they get to return back down to Earth at last. It’s going to be a long process going through the data and analyzing it in the labs after this. The descent shouldn’t take very long from where they are, posted by the wormhole closest to Earth. Just close enough for the Earth station base to keep in clear contact, in charge of maneuvering the ship remotely and keeping it stable in its place. The area is too volatile with unpredictable spurts of radiation and frequency waves from the wormhole to rely on a pilot onboard, needing constant, vigilant surveillance every split second with no room for human error. The base down on Earth handles the task with a team and heavy force technology instead. This is a surveillance ship not a voyager, after all. 

When they’re done packing up their things, Jongin follows Moonkyu to the docking port, shoving his things into his own capsule while Moonkyu takes the other. The shuttles are controlled remotely too, so all they have to do is wait for the signal from the base for the capsule to be launched out of the ship and let themselves be guided down. 

“See you down there!” Moonkyu grins, clambering inside and gives Jongin a thumbs up when the shuttle window seals after him securely. 

Grinning, Jongin climbs inside the capsule, strapping himself into his seat in anticipation of the rough ride ahead. He’s starting to wish he hadn’t eaten breakfast. Moonkyu gets the green light first through the transmitter, and Jongin can almost hear him cheering through the glass, giving Jongin one last wave before he’s launched out of the ship. 

Jongin can’t see much from the angle he’s in, focusing on his own signal to come through so he can follow suit. He taps his fingers on his knee impatiently, eager to finally get off this ship. The transmitter remains dark, inactive, and Jongin huffs wondering why it’s taking so long. This isn’t what he meant by conceding a head start when he made that bet with Moonkyu earlier. 

It’s been over ten minutes now and the signal still hasn’t come on. Frowning, Jongin tries the radio transmitter in the capsule, tweaking to knobs to try and find a connection but it comes up empty. There isn’t even any static or interference over the connection; the line is completely dead. 

Swallowing tightly, Jongin pushes the capsule door open warily, climbing out of the shuttle. He gives it a once over, but everything looks intact, even with his limited knowledge in mechanics.

Jongin heads back inside the ship, his frown deepening when he gets to the control room, seeing the lights on the circuit board flashing as usual. He walks up to the transmitter screen, tapping in the commands to connect a video call with the Earth station. The screen brings up an error box, unable to put through a successful connection. 

“The hell-” Jongin mutters, reaching for the main radio transmitter instead, holding down the button to speak.

“Orbit 5-X to base, do you read me?”

He lets go of the button but there’s no static to replace the silence. 

“Hello?” Jongin tries again, starting to feel a little frantic. “Can anyone hear me?”

No reply. It’s like every line he had connecting him to Earth has been completely severed. There must have been some sort of malfunction. Panicking, Jongin types in every control he can think of, sweeping through the entire system but they’re all down and he can’t make contact. He’s been cut off.

“Fuck,” Jongin chokes out, leaning back against the steel wall and sinks down to the floor, enveloped in the deathly silence that hangs in the ship, now suspended blindly in space without a tether.

He tries to keep it together despite the panic creeping over him, trying to overwhelm him. It’ll be fine. The Earth station will know what happened and they’ll work on fixing it soon enough. All he has to do is stay alert and keep an eye on the transmitter for any sign of the connection coming back online. Everything will be alright.

There’s been a short circuit somewhere on the ship, that much he can tell. Moonkyu would have probably been able to pinpoint it in seconds. Jongin drags a hand across his face with a groan, wondering how this top notch piece of technology the company has been bragging about for months suddenly had a short circuit. 

It’s taking a lot longer than Jongin had expected for the base to fix the problem and bring him down. He looks out the window, staring at the earth down below with a dark sense of dread curling in his gut. 

The hours drag on by, one after the other and still nothing happens but Jongin has nothing else to do but wait anyway. It’s night time on Earth by now, seeing the bright city lights twinkling up at him, even from this far away. Jongin curls up on his bunk, tugging his knees up to his chest anxiously. The silence up here hangs a lot more heavily when he’s the only one trapped in it. He curls up on the mattress, burying his face in his pillow and waits.

 

He's jolted awake to the feeling of his stomach churning. Jongin barely has time to lean over the edge of the bed before he's throwing up violently.

Fumbling for the switch of his lampshade, Jongin wraps an arm around himself, feeling like his insides have been turned upside down and set on fire. He's dripping with sweat but his hand comes away with blood when he scrubs it across his face.

He staggers to his feet, avoiding the puddle of sick on the floor and looks at himself in the mirror. He's got a nosebleed, the blood smeared across his face messily, still flowing heavily. Leaning over the sink, Jongin pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to breathe through his mouth even though it feels like his stomach is about to heave again.

Something's wrong. Maybe the oxygen filter malfunctioned, enough to make his body react to it. The ship feels a little rockier than usual, like it's been jolted. Could be the propellers- maybe he’s being moved. The earth station must have reconnected the line.

When he finally stanches the blood flow, Jongin heads for the control room quickly, eager to finally connect through to Earth. He casts a glance outside the window on his way, out of habit more than anything, and stops dead in his tracks. Pressing his face into to the glass, he stares at the blackness outside in shock.

"No," he breathes, rushing to look out from the next window a few feet away, hoping for a different angle. The blackness looms back at him, silent and endless.

Jongin tears through the entire ship, looking through ever single window he can find. Maybe the ship just turned around, maybe he looked out the wrong window-

"No, no, _no_ ," Jongin gags at the sudden acid reflux searing in his chest but pushes forward to the last window at the nose of the ship, in the control room.

He can't see the earth anymore.

Jongin realizes belatedly that the faint shimmer of the wormhole is nowhere to be seen either.

The ship went through it. Jongin's knees buckle under his weight, too unsteady to hold him up and he crumples to the ground. They were never meant to go through it, this ship was never built to withstand the frequency of the magnetic waves in full force.

The circuit board is completely fried now - any hopes of the connection returning are lost now. And now with the wormhole sealed up behind him, Jongin is lost too. He’s not an engineer, he can’t fix the damage or do anything about the ship drifting off course, deeper into space.

A choked sob finally forces it's way through his throat and Jongin breaks down completely. He cries so hard he forgets to breathe, ripping at his hair in despair. He loses track of time, not sure how long he even stays there curled up on the cold metal floor, sobbing into his fist. Just long enough for him to collapse again when he tries to get to his feet, his muscles cramped and aching. His entire body feels weak, parched and hungry but unable to build up an appetite.

He crawls up to the hull and slumps against the glass pane, staring out at the star speckled darkness, dully.

 

▸

 

_“See you down there!”_

Moonkyu's shuttle detaches itself from the ship with a low hiss and begins its slow descent down towards Earth. Jongin stares after it, watching as Moonkyu twists around as best he can to look back at him with a grin and an encouraging thumbs up. 

It's then that Jongin spots the trail he's leaving behind, a thin line of fire like a rope following the shuttle all the way down to Earth. One end of the flaming rope hovers just a few feet from where Jongin is standing, burning brighter at the tip.

Jongin lunges at it, making a grab for the end of the rope, desperate to join Moonkyu but it burns his hands the second he touches it. Recoiling, he cries out in pain, nursing his burnt palm against his chest. His touch triggers the rope into fading away and Jongin can't do anything but watch in despair as the line of fire dissolves into nothing until the entire trail down to Earth vanishes completely. In it's place, a sudden crack opens up in the curtain of blackness in space.

Jongin's never seen anything like it, a gaping void tearing the fabric of space apart. He squints, trying to look inside it for answers but an explosive burst of light filters out of it, bright and scorching like the entire sun is bursting from inside inside the crack. Jongin doesn't even have time throw his hands up in front of his face before the light explodes with a deafening roar, burning right through his retinas and drowns out his screams.

 

He wakes up in a pool of his own sweat, the stark silence of the ship jarring compared to the monstrous noise still echoing inside his head from the nightmare. His chest is heaving so hard it hurts, pain ricocheting across his ribs. He tries to swallow but his throat feels raw, almost like he'd been screaming out in his sleep, and maybe he was. A shiver wracks up along his spine, the sweat on his skin going cold and sticking his clothes to his body uncomfortably.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Jongin runs his hand through his damp hair, trying to get his cramped muscles to relax even as the images of the nightmare still burn in the backs of his eyelids. Even in his sleep, he can't escape.

On the fifth day of waking up to the same nightmare, Jongin drags himself to the bathroom and leans over the sink heavily, staring at his reflection. The man looking back at him is dead in the eyes. He looks like complete shit. 

Something has to change. Jongin can’t just sit here and waste away; he refuses to let himself succumb to that. They’ll come for him; they’ll find him.

He starts by reaching up for the razor in the cabinet and shaving off the messy stubble growing on his chin, cleaning himself up.

It takes a full evaluation of the ship’s state to figure out the extensive damage in the left propellers. The ship must have taken a hit from some stray debris, setting it in motion, off course. With no contact from the Earth station to warn him and steer him away, Jongin was just a sitting duck in the way.

 

▸

 

He finds a video camera stashed at the very back of the old cabinet in his room when he empties it out to clean it. It's an old model, the type that still works with batteries but Jongin finds a new pack of double A batteries in the drawer below. Tearing it open, he fits two into the battery slot and turns the camera on, turning the rotating screen towards himself.

There's a couple of saved videos on it already and Jongin sifts through them curiously, most of them videos of the stars outside the window. Then he comes to one video of a man he's unfamiliar with, likely one of the previous astrophysicists on the ship before him. He's talking into the camera, documenting his findings and it sparks a sudden idea.

Turning the lens over to himself, Jongin clears his throat and presses the record button.

"Uh, hi? My name is Jongin," he swallows awkwardly, suddenly floundering for something to say. "Been up here almost a week now. Starting to wish I'd brought a book with me."

He laughs weakly before it tapers off into a sigh. This isn't working. Jongin stops the recording and turns the camera off.

 

The weight of being so completely cut off starts to get to him eventually and he begins to lose sleep over it. It's the pin drop silence of space that hits him the hardest. There was a time when he thought it was bizarrely soothing; made it easier to sort through his thoughts in peace.

It's different now that silence is all he has for company. He's read all sorts of studies about how complete silence gives you better focus and a sense of calmness. Maybe his energy is all wrong and he's not meant for that kind of thing. He can't seem to stay asleep for longer than an hour, jittery and nauseous, like there's a constant itch crawling under his skin.

It comes to him when he's showering, listening to the pattering of the water splashing onto the ceramic under his feet. He used to sing in the shower. That's what's missing; his voice.

Jongin dries himself off quickly and beelines for the nightstand where he'd stashed the camera away. He doesn't even bother checking his reflection before turning the lens on himself.

"My name is Kim Jongin and this is my first video diary."

 

▸

 

It's marginal but keeping a daily video diary helps in a way. He uses the camera to give a run down of his day. Sometimes, it's the only thing giving him any reason to get out of bed at all and do something with himself. Letting himself fade into nothingness is not an option. 

' _Diary entry number ten. Yah, Moonkyu, you owe me ten burgers when I get back. And a whole box of chicken wings_ ”

There's nothing much to do so Jongin focuses all his attention on reviewing everything they've analyzed about the wormhole, going through the documents and data, rewriting it all just so he has something to do.

' _Diary entry number fifteen. I've gone through the numbers three times; it feels like I'm missing something. The wormholes, they're all fundamentally different but...I dunno. My gut’s telling me there's a pattern in there somewhere..."_

Working through all the material for hours on end means he's tired enough by the end of it to close his eyes and black out for longer than a couple of hours. He manages to eat in moderation, despite being unable to work up much of an appetite. The larder is gradually emptying out but Jongin can't bring himself to catalogue how much is left. It feels too much like dealing himself his own sentence; he's been trying so hard not to let himself fall into such a dark place. Someone will come for him, he has to believe that or he has nothing left.

Drowning himself in work for most of the day helps him keep those thoughts at bay. The wormhole fried most of the circuits but somehow one of the screens survived. Jongin hunches over it, poring over the calculations that have been leading him nowhere so far. Scratching his head, he plays around with the algorithm he put together, tweaking it again after a thought and runs it, waiting glumly as the algorithm syncs up with the ship's system data. The screen beeps when it's done and Jongin's chin slips off his steepled hands. It's compatible.

"That's it," he breathes, gawking down at the screen. He runs the same numbers again just to make sure and laughs in disbelief when it works.

"The problem, it’s not the speed or the angle it’s the core temperature!" Jongin exclaims throwing his arms up triumphantly. "The engine heat particles react with the electromagnetic field, I did it!"

He leaps off his chair, turning to jump in victory but he stops short, his cheer faltering. Right. There's no one here. The bare steel walls glare back at him silently, mocking him.

Jongin's arms drop back down to hang at his sides limply. No one will ever know. Swallowing tightly, he sits back down and reaches for the camera. _'Diary entry number twenty.’_

 

▸

 

The days gradually start bleeding into each other; he nearly loses track but the camera keeps him in check. He starts playing back his own videos, listening to himself talk into the camera, trying not to think about how he’s on the last pair of batteries. Sometimes he pretends it’s someone else speaking instead of his own voice echoing off the steel walls. For just a moment he lets himself think there's someone there talking to him and he can pretend he’s not all alone out here.

Some days Jongin slips up. He lets the thoughts invade his mind, wondering if they've all forgotten him by now or if they just brushed him aside as the unfortunate casualty that can't be helped. He wonders if anyone ever tried to come looking for him at all. Jongin stares at his reflection in the mirror and shakes himself. Someone will come.

' _Video diary number twenty six: Happy Chuseok! I've got my festive meal all spread out here,'_ he angles the camera at the simple meal on the table before turning it back to himself.

' _Bet you anything Moonkyu's getting piss drunk right now, how are you gonna manage without me to drive you home, huh? Anyway, my food's getting cold so, happy holidays!_ '

He throws the lens a V sign with his fingers before turning the camera off. Picking up his fork, Jongin quickly wipes away the stray tear that rolls down his cheek and digs into his meal.

The nightmares come back intermittently, waking him up drenched in his own sweat. They’re starting to get progressively more vivid and a lot more disorienting. Still, he shakes them off and reaches over for the camera, watching the video diaries until his fingers have stopped trembling. Someone will come.

 

▸

 

“Diary entry number thirty. Maybe we should get someone to work on wifi in space or something. That would def-"

He stops short when the camera suddenly beeps as the screen blacks out and the lens retracts into power off mode. The batteries are dead.

He remembers moments later that that was the very last pair he had on the ship, and his hands drop into his lap dully. He stares at the wall across him, trying to control his breathing and rein in the hysteria he can already feel bubbling very close to the surface. His breath catches in his throat anyway just as the prickle of tears stings in the corners of his eyes.

Pushing the now useless camera aside, Jongin gets to his feet, swaying on the spot dizzily. He steps into the shower and turns on the tap, barely registering the ice cold temperature of the water. He doesn’t cry. 

 

Jongin struggles to keep track of time, losing count of the days. Instead he paces along the length of the ship, wasting the hours away. He doesn't look out at the stars anymore. Their endless brightness used to bring him hope but it’s become something Jongin barely even remembers anymore. 

He drags his feet to the larder, exhaling through his teeth as he grips the metal handle. Against his better judgement, he slides the door open and takes in the contents with. There’s a few more packs of compressed food left and enough to drink for a while if he rations himself but it won’t last long. The anti-acid tablets are almost out too, which is hardly encouraging, already feeling his stomach churn at the thought. 

He doesn’t touch any of the food, unable to work up enough of an appetite, but he doesn’t close the door yet. A thought crosses his mind before he can tamp it down and he indulges it numbly, too overcome by the crushing loneliness to fight it. Why _has_ he bothered lasting this long? He'd given up trying to figure out the course of the ship a long time ago, not bothering with the vague coordinates on the navigation screen anymore. There’s no telling what dimension he’s in without an operational scanner. Not that there’s anything he can do about it anyway, not without a functional engine. There hasn't been anything he could do since he was left up here alone. Was anyone ever even going to come at all?

The lump in his throat tightens until he can barely breathe, tears welling up in his eyes as he glares at the polished metal door, trying half-heartedly to convince himself not to do anything stupid. Gritting his teeth, Jongin shakes himself out of the self-destructive thoughts. That _is_ stupid. He slams the larder door shut, ashamed of himself for letting himself go there. He can’t give up now after holding on for so long. Someone _will_ come.

Biting down on his tongue, he scrubs the gathering tears away with his knuckles. It feels like his body has been drained of energy from the effort to reason with himself. Staying positive is exhausting. Despite his efforts, a stray tear still escapes, rolling down the side of his nose. Sighing, Jongin leans back against the metal wall and slides down weakly to the ground. He lets his head drops back against the metal and closes his eyes to soothe his breathing because the darkness behind his eyelids still isn’t as dark as the endless black curtain outside.

He's been hearing things lately, things that aren't really there. Sometimes it's the chirping of birds, just like the ones that used to sing outside his window back home. Sometimes he thinks he hears whispers, hushed words of a voice that sets him off, tearing through the ship desperately only to find a plastic sheet rustling in the current of the oxygen filter.

This time he can hear the faint, intermittent beeping of the control unit in the cockpit, ringing incessantly just like when Moonkyu was still here and they'd get calls from Earth to check up on their progress. The sounds all dissipate eventually, plunging him back into the thick silence of this metal prison. Jongin waits, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and tugs his knees up against his chest, waiting for the sounds to stop so he can convince himself once again that he hasn't completely lost his mind yet. 

“Keep it together,” Jongin mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose.. 

The beeping doesn’t stop.

Cracking an eye open, Jongin frowns and listens harder. The sound is piercing through the air, distinctly clearer, more solid and more _real_ than anything else he's heard on this ship in a long time.

Heart in his throat, Jongin scrambles to his feet, half stumbling in his haste to get to the cockpit. He nearly collapses when he finds the sensor ports by the screen flashing red, bright and very real indeed. He’d been afraid the sound would disappear just like all the rest of them when he got there. Head spinning, he almost forgets to breathe for a moment, transfixed as he stares at the flashing light numbly. 

The beeping snaps him back to attention and Jongin hunches over the screen to figure out which part of the ship has been activated. The engine may be busted but the periphery sensory modules are still active and functional. It’s the connection port in the docking bay; there’s a request for another body to connect with the ship. Jongin stops breathing entirely, reaching out shakily to type in a set of commands to pull up the navigation radar on screen. Right there, docked beside his own, is a ship on standby, looming almost five times bigger in size. 

Jongin doesn’t need much more than that. Tearing down along the ship, he skirts down the secondary hull to get to the rear end. He slows to a stop just before rounding the corner, staring at the window pane just a few feet up ahead. There’s been nothing to see out there except endless darkness and pinpricks of stars light years away no matter how long he stood there and stared, hoping for something to show up. Even after countless days of nothing, he’d hoped and hoped again until he didn’t have it in him anymore.

Now he peers outside the window tentatively and right there, _right there_ , he’s only feet away from a giant, magnificent ship hovering beside his own. It feels so unreal he can hardly believe it, pressing his fingers into his eyes until he’s seeing his own stars in the explosions behind his eyelids. The whiteness clears and the ship is still there when he looks again; there for _him_.

His knees grow weak at the sudden wave of desperate relief and hope that crashes over every fiber of his body, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all. He can feel the tendrils of anxiety setting in too but he pushes past it, focusing on the beeping still echoing from the control panel in the docking bay. 

Jongin bites his lip, scanning the ship carefully. He can't see the name from this angle but it doesn't look outwardly formidable. It could be anyone in there, maybe even pirates. There’s been talk of them stirring up a lot of trouble lately but Jongin ignores all the warning bells urging him to be cautious. He's got nothing to lose anymore. Anything is better than this.

Dashing over to the beeping control unit by the sealed port, he slides the panel open and studies the keypad. He's holding his breath when he types in the command to accept the request, gearing the ship up in preparation for the connection through the docking bay. The ship jolts, throwing him off balance for a moment when the other ship initiates the bridging link and Jongin steps back from the doors, holding himself up against the metal wall when his knees suddenly feel too wobbly to hold him steady. 

He only registers that he’s actually shaking when a sudden shivers wracks up his spine, the trepidation surging in his chest, waiting for the steel doors to slide open.

The control panel flashes to life again, displaying the request for entry into the ship itself. Jongin's hand hovers over the screen, pausing for an inexplicable moment. He wonders if it's possible for his heart to somehow bulldoze its way out of his chest with the way it's thundering against his ribs. Sparing another second to hesitation, he shakes himself and jabs his finger down on the panel, granting access. The doors slide open with a loud hiss and Jongin holds his breath.

A man in a black jumpsuit uniform walks in through the doors, stopping just a few feet from him with a curious, friendly smile on his face. He rakes his eyes along the interior of the ship quickly before focusing on Jongin himself.

"Captain Chanyeol of the Vivapolo!" the stranger announces cheerfully, giving Jongin a good-natured salute. Jongin spots the crest stitched into the left breast of his uniform but doesn’t recognize it. Must be a private ship then. 

"I noticed your ship is from the earth bound regions; we don’t see many of those out here in the farther dimensions,” Chanyeol says. “She looks like she’s taken some damage too. May I speak with your captain?”

Overwhelmed, Jongin doesn’t quite process what he’s saying immediately, too busy gawking at the fact that there’s actually a real life _person_ standing not two feet from him. He catches himself just before he reaches out to poke Chanyeol’s cheek, maybe even hug him, just to be sure. 

“I, uh,” Jongin’s voice cracks and falters, stunned into silence again. It’s been nearly two months. Nearly two months with nothing but his own reflection to stare at, the only face he's looked at in a long time and longer still since he's heard someone’s voice that wasn’t his own. A real voice, present here and addressing _him_. It’s a lot to take in and Jongin suddenly feels agitated, his mouth opening and closing without a sound.

_Someone came._

He clears his throat and tries again.

“It’s just me here.”

Chanyeol throws curious looks around what he can see of the ship again, brows tugging together for a moment. He seems to register the eerie silence of the ship and the lack of activity going on. Jongin glances over his shoulder, half expecting to see someone miraculously standing there and prove that he hasn’t been alone this entire time, but, of course, there’s no one there. 

"Were you attacked?" Chanyeol asks quietly, carefully.

Jongin shakes his head, a little dizzy from how bizarre it feels to be holding a two way conversation. 

“There was a malfunction before I was shuttled back to Earth. Communication was down and there must have been some sort of momentum blast from the short circuit,” Jongin explains, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders properly, only just noticing the way his shoulders are slumped with Chanyeol standing tall before him. “Knocked me right through the wormhole just outside the exosphere and blew the engines out.”

Chanyeol whistles, his eyebrows arching high on his forehead. 

“That would explain the damage to your generators. Mind if I take a look?”

Surprised, Jongin nearly trips over his own feet to move aside and let him through. He slides the panel closed over the controls again, letting the doors slide shut before falling into step with Chanyeol, leading the way to the control room. It’s been a long time since two pairs of footsteps echoed on the walls.

He takes one look at the fried circuit board and exhales through his mouth, puffing his cheeks out. 

“So, the ship was controlled remotely?” Chanyeol asks, examining the only functioning screen on the board.

Jongin nods, typing in the keys to pull up the window showing the lost connection with the motherboard on Earth. 

“It was just me and one other guy, we were working on a project for wormhole dynamic manipulation,” Jongin says, feeling a sharp pang in his chest at the thought of Moonkyu. “Between us, he was the engineer. I’m just a quantum astrophysicist so I don’t know much about engines or how to fix them.”

“A quantum astrophysicist?” Chanyeol turns to gape at him wide eyed with awe. “Woah. That’s pretty impressive.”

Jongin tries for a smile, the stretch on his lips feeling unfamiliar on his cheeks. “I’ve got some background in navigation but I can’t really do much with no engines.”

Chanyeol follows him into the engine room, rounding the thick pipe fuses to get to the generators. Humming, he pulls out the grate covering, peering at the knot of wires.

“I’ve got a team of engineers on my ship but I’m not sure how much of this they’ll be able to salvage. It might take a while to replace it,” he says finally, tucking back the charred end of a wire he’d tugged out. “The damage is pretty extensive.”

Jongin’s heart plummets into the pit of his stomach, staring at the generator dejectedly. Something catches in his throat, weighing heavily and his shoulders slump. He runs a hand through his hair roughly, trying to tamp down his disappointment. 

“You know, we’ve got an empty room on the Vivapolo,” Chanyeol says suddenly, looking thoughtful. “We’re not headed back to Earth just yet, but you could ride with us until we do, if you’re interested? I mean we uh- we could definitely use someone with your expertise on our team.”

There’s something surprisingly hopeful about his tone and it takes Jongin by surprise, balking at the sudden offer. 

“You- really?” he blurts out. He’s offering him a golden ticket, the one thing he’s been dreaming of since he’s been trapped here in this metal prison. 

“Absolutely,” Chanyeol insists excitedly, dusting his hands off and following Jongin out of the engine room. “We’re a little lacking in the quantum department so we could definitely use a hand. We’ve got tons of data just sitting around. I know my crew would love to have you. ”

Jongin stares at him and just somehow musters up his voice enough to choke out a ‘yes’. Chanyeol beams brightly and claps him on the shoulder, pleased. 

“I’ll uh- I’ll go get my stuff then?” Jongin says weakly, his head spinning; this is all happening so fast.

Nodding, Chanyeol heads back to wait by the docking bay. Jongin crosses back along the hull, dazed as he makes his way back to his room. A twinge of urgency spikes up in his chest seconds later and he breaks into a run, tearing towards his room. He won’t be left behind again. 

Jongin gets all his things together fairly quickly, emptying out his drawers and wardrobe. He spares a moment to think about how pathetic it looks; his entire life for for the past two months packed into one small cardboard box. 

Shaking the thought aside, he hoists the box up and heads off towards the docking bay, feeling a little too weak with relief to see Chanyeol still waiting there for him. 

The first step into the tunnel connecting the two ships makes him feel lighter than he has in a long time, sucking in a deep breath as they get closer to the Vivapolo’s docking bay. 

"So, exactly how long have you been out here?" Chanyeol asks suddenly, turning to look at him curiously. 

Jongin fingers tighten around the box, remembering the seemingly endless days of forced positivity to drown out his misery, trapped in some sort of limbo that bordered on numbness with no relief. Hours, days, weeks blurring into each other. He coughs out a small, dry laugh. 

“Forty seven days, give or take.”

He doesn’t miss the way Chanyeol’s hand falters when he reaches out for the control panel by the doors. He turns to stare at him for a moment, struggling for words right before the doors slide open. Jongin swallows tightly and follows him inside. 

The first thing he registers the moment the doors hiss closed behind him is the sound of muffled voices chattering somewhere inside the ship, orders being barked out, even the shrill peal of laughter. Jongin’s never heard anything more beautiful. 

Chanyeol leads him up along the corridor but Jongin stops in his tracks when he catches sight of his own ship through the window. It feels surreal, looking at it from the outside like this. He stares silently, a battered heaviness in his heart. Chanyeol seems to realize the magnitude of the moment because he leaves him be, saying something about waiting in the hallway outside. 

For a brief second, Jongin feels a spike of anxiety rising in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath to soothe the dizziness making his head spin. When he opens them again, his ship is still there but his chest has settled. He’s not in there anymore, forgotten in a metal box. He feels the hot prickle of tears in his eyes but he holds them in. He’s free. Someone finally came.

 

▸

 

Chanyeol introduces him to the crew briefly before leading him to his new room. Jongin forgets their names almost immediately, still too overwhelmed by everything to retain the new information. He does register the look on their faces though, surprised and curious but not hostile. It's a small, reassuring thought that Jongin tucks away for later when he's a little less out of it. 

The room Chanyeol takes him to is fairly small, with a standard sized bed, a desk and a large wardrobe. 

"So um, make yourself at home," Chanyeol says, waving a hand across the room. "Lunchtime isn't for another couple of hours, so take all the time you need."

He leaves Jongin to it, giving him some privacy to settle down and take everything in properly. Jongin steps inside and slides the door shut, staring around at the room curiously. He sets the box with his things down on the bed slowly, looking down at the few items and clothes he has in it. 

He’s still trying to figure out where this will all lead to next. Unpacking his box suddenly seems unreal, like any attempt to settle into this room will dissolve the dream into nothingness like it never existed. Instead, he pushes himself off the mattress and steps into the bathroom for a long, hot shower.

 

Chanyeol comes by his room again a couple of hours later to take him to lunch, knocking on his door politely. 

"Fair warning, everyone tends to get pretty loud and they'll probably drive you nuts but they're a great bunch, I promise," Chanyeol says when they're making their way to the cafeteria. 

Jongin offers a smile in response, feeling the nerves roiling in his stomach. Even with Chanyeol giving him a heads up, he's still not sure what to expect and how he'll be received. He half wonders how rusty his social skills have gotten by now, the period of isolation feeling longer than it already was. 

Taking a deep breath, he follows Chanyeol into the room, only just realizing how famished he is when he catches the smell of food. His last meal included a hard piece of bread and not enough butter to spread over it.

The cafeteria is every bit as wild as Chanyeol described. The loud voices talking over each other in a long babbling stream roars in Jongin’s ears after being in encased in silence for so long but it’s comforting beyond belief. They’re a rowdy bunch, only falling silent for a moment when Jongin appears before the chatter starts up again. It’s a mess of everyone trying to introduce themselves at the same time, with their own different variations of welcoming him to the team. 

Jongin exhales deeply when everyone finally settles down and Chanyeol chuckles beside him, clapping him on the back. 

“Welcome to the Vivapolo, Jongin.”

 

▸

 

He’s given a position with Kyungsoo and Junmyeon in the biochemistry labs, helping out with the data they’ve collected over their travels and the items they’ve found along the way. 

“We used to have an astrophysicist on board but he dropped out so we’ve been a little short in that department,” Junmyeon explains, handing him a tablet to scroll through the database freely. “Biochem alone can only get you so far out here.”

The database has an incredible reservoir of charts and constellations he’s never seen before, complete with a 3D hologram display.

“This is amazing,” Jongin breathes, fascinated by the variety of wormholes and glimpses of black holes captured in the images. He feels a bubble of excitement, eager to dig in and sift through everything.

 

It’s hard to fall asleep at first. Last time he fell asleep, the earth disappeared. It’s difficult to forget the terror ingrained in his bones. Jongin gradually finds it a little easier the more time he spends with the rest of the crew, reminding himself that he’s really here, believing it once he’s had more days to let all of this sink in properly.

He learns that Chanyeol and his crew are researchers, dedicating their time to ventures in deep space, searching for every possible source of life or any other area that can support it. 

“Thought we’d hit jackpot with Alpha Centauri,” Chanyeol tells him, pulling up the data they gathered from their excursion there. “It was the supposed to be the closest thing we had so we stuck around but it didn’t really work out.”

“Have you found anything else yet?” Jongin asks curiously, scrolling through the database with interest. There’s an incredible amount of information on so many celestial bodies in there. 

“Actually, we just got back from Gliese 667Cc, got some pretty useful intel from there,” Chanyeol says, pulling up one of the wheely stools to sit down on it heavily.

“Wait, Gliese 667Cc- the ‘super-earth’?” Jongin turns to stare at him, wide eyed. “That’s like twenty two light years away; you’ve actually been there?”

“Right in the middle of the Scorpius constellation,” Chanyeol grins. “A bit too warm for my liking but it’s a real sight to see.”

“That’s incredible,” Jongin breathes in awe, always having imagined himself being part of a field crew one day, after having done something worthwhile enough with his own research. There’s a lot of satisfaction to be gained from drawing solutions from an analysis where there was once a problem, paving the way to safer and more advanced activity in space. Still, he often wonders about the thrill of the voyage around every edge of the galaxy, seeing the vastness of space and its bodies for himself, to feel the concreteness of an entirely different planet under his feet. 

He pulls up a chair beside Chanyeol, scrolling through more files of data and images. There’s some names he’s never even heard of, places and constellations he’s never encountered in his studies on earth. A lot of it is unprocessed, just raw data waiting to be analyzed for any patterns that would form a theory. Junmyeon’s already given him the go ahead to dive right into it, needing his expertise.

“You’ve been to so many places,” Jongin hums, amazed at how far from the solar system they’ve managed to travel. “This ship must be pretty resilient.”

“She’s taken her fair share of damage along the way,” Chanyeol sighs, patting the navigation board fondly. “She was my granddad’s first before he gave it to my dad. Needed lots of work when Dad finally gave her to me.”

His chest puffs out with pride, staring around the cockpit room. His eyes slide off the walls and fall back on Jongin, his expression turning serious. 

“It’s going to take a while before we can find an entrance to the solar system again,” he says quietly, a reminder of his words when they’d met, that they’re not en route to Earth just yet. The wormholes work in a fluctuating process of rotation, Jongin knows that. They’re unpredictable for the most part, only giving a vague idea of where one will show up until the ship can pick up the frequency.

“But!” Chanyeol interjects again quickly in response to Jongin’s conflicted silence. “Our next stop is coming up soon, it’s supposedly bigger than Gliese 667Cc. You could join us on the expedition team, if you’d like?”

Jongin lights up at the invitation and nods, feeling the budding excitement unfurling in his chest at the thought.

 

▸

 

It’s a process but Jongin eases into life on the Vivapolo as best he can, working on building himself up again, picking up the pieces of himself that broke along the way before he got here and puts himself together again. He starts to feel like himself again, eating together with the rest of the crew and busying himself with work with the others instead of isolating himself. There’s still part of him that is withdrawn, buried within himself and it’s not going away any time soon, the trauma still too raw in his mind to let himself go completely. 

He’s smiling a lot more these days, feeling his cheeks ache when he’s back in the silence of his own room, like they’re making up for lost time. Jongin lets the rest of the crew’s voices wash over him, already overpowering his own anyway, and studies their faces instead, committing them to memory. Maybe with a little more time, he’ll stop holding his breath waiting for something to happen that will throw him into isolation again. 

Chanyeol makes it easier; the weight pressing down on his lungs dissolves when Chanyeol’s around, making him feel a little less lost. He’s curious and attentive by nature, showering Jongin with questions about everything from his research to his favourite food, genuinely interested. Jongin himself has grown accustomed to listening to the others most of the time, endlessly grateful to hear their voices each day instead of the threatening silence. Still, it’s comforting to have someone listening to him just as raptly, reacting to things in all the right places with genuine interest in his eyes. The way it grounds him feels more like gravity than anything else.

It helps that they spend most of the day together in the navigation room because Chanyeol wants his opinion on several matters, asking about things they haven’t been able to figure out yet without the processed data. The conversation tends to derail off work related topics most of the time anyway. Jongin carefully avoids mentioning his time in the old ship when he talks about himself and Chanyeol doesn’t pry, immediately jumping onto something else. 

“I was in a band in high school,” Chanyeol says when Jongin asks about the guitar he’d spotted in Chanyeol’s room while passing by. “I’ve been trying to bring back karaoke night here but the others never really got into it.”

He slumps back into his seat grumpily, tweaking one of the knobs on the control board and watching the numbers shift on the screen in front of them. 

“Getting enough alcohol in there might do the trick,” Jongin snorts, recalling how last Saturday went with Baekhyun and Jackson’s impromptu party in the common room with drinks in red plastic cups. He doesn’t even go to parties like that back on Earth, no matter how much Moonkyu always tried to persuade him to. Still, it does tend to get a little boring around here when there’s nothing much else to do during long stretches of smooth traveling. Any chance to liven things up on the ship tend to be snatched at and run with.

“Hmm,” Chanyeol hums, actually contemplating the idea. “I could get Seulgi to reprogram the screen in the common room into a makeshift karaoke screen.”

He rubs his chin in thought and turns to Jongin with a hopeful look.

“Hey, you said you danced in your senior year, right?”

“I’m not giving a performance,” Jongin says flatly, immediately shutting down the idea. Chanyeol pushes his lip out, rubbing his palms together pleadingly but Jongin doesn’t give in. He holds his ground even when Chanyeol starts poking his cheek with his finger incessantly, stifling his laughter when Jongin narrows his eyes. His resolve does crack eventually, promising to sing one song with Chanyeol at least if not dance.

 

When the weekend rolls in again, everyone’s gathered in the large common room as usual. Chanyeol hasn’t gotten around to asking Seulgi about the karaoke program yet but there’s still music filling up the room, mixing with the babble of voices. 

The drinks are flowing easily, everyone helping themselves and refilling their cups from a choice of spirits set on on their makeshift bar counter. They try to get a small game of charades going, splitting into teams around the room even if everyone’s a little too wobbly to play properly anyway. Jongin is wheezing at Baekhyun’s drunk imitations while using a giggling Jongdae as a prop, laughing so hard Chanyeol has to thump him on the back before he chokes.

 

▸

 

Their next stop on land is HD 85512b, to see if they can find any source of water anywhere that can be tested for acidity. 

"Has everyone got their masks on? Make sure to recalibrate your gravity boots again, just in case,"

Junmyeon walks over to readjust Sehun's mask strap which has slipped a little loose. The flat glass mask clasps securely on his face, ready to pump oxygen when he turns on the tank. It’s one of the newer models, much easier to move with than the old, bulky oxygen masks that went over the entire head. He turns to Chanyeol and drills him with questions to make sure he's got everything set and ready to go.

"Who's the captain here," Chanyeol mumbles petulantly but Junmyeon just smiles at him good-naturedly and pats him on the shoulder before taking his place back in line.

The ship lands carefully on a clear plane on the planet, a dull shade of grey greeting them from below.

"Remember the plan, we're heading up north first. We’ll follow the signs of humidity there before we move south. Stay together."

The group nods their assent and they head off, taking in the new surroundings with interest. Having never been outside Orbit before, Jongin ogles everything with boundless fascination, trying to commit every single detail to memory. There's something ethereal about looking up at the sky from the ground and seeing the black canvas of space where the sky should be. The stars seem a lot closer and brighter. Something catches in his chest and he looks back down.

"This is incredible," he murmurs, catching the way Chanyeol grins beside him.

"Just wait till we get to Kepler," Chanyeol says excitedly. "It's way bigger and it's a lot more like Earth than this place."

Jongin chuckles at his enthusiasm, nudging into Chanyeol’s shoulder and feels him bump back, his bright smile still in place.

They kick up little clouds of dust as they walk, the particles distilled and floating in the air instead of settling back down on the ground. Most of the scenery is empty planes of dust and rocks but the walls of boulders eventually begin to grow into mountains around them, enclosing them in a narrower path. They're dressed lightly but the temperature drops slightly and Jongin suppresses a shiver.

"Captain, I think I found something!"

Chanyeol whips around when Minseok calls out to him and Jongin follows when he jogs over.

"What is it?"

Chanyeol drops down on his haunches beside Minseok while the others stand around them, peering over their shoulders.

"Not sure yet," Minseok frowns, setting up the electrowave device in his hands. "It looks like a natural pump in the ground but I can't tell if it leads anywhere yet."

Chanyeol hums, patting the ground down and feels the texture of the earth between his fingers. Minseok doesn't seem to be having much luck finding anything worthwhile with the device, tweaking the settings to refine the scan.

"Hang on- " Chanyeol leans in closer to the mound, peering into the opening carefully and reaches in to pull at something. Surprisingly, he latches onto something hard and yanks it out with a grunt. It's a metal rod.

"This- " Chanyeol turns it over in his hands, blowing the dust off it and cleans it with his sleeve. His brows furrow, trying to make it out under the stubborn layer of dirt before the blood suddenly drains from his face. "This is New Terra steel."

"Shit," Minseok hisses and Jongin stares between them, confused at their reaction. "Pirates."

"We need to go," Chanyeol orders urgently, dropping the rod and straightens up quickly. "Now."

They barely make it two steps back the way they came before the sharp whistle of a projectile pierces through the air and explodes in the ground just a few feet from them.

"Run!" Chanyeol bellows, taking off in the opposite direction of their ship, dragging Jongin along with a steely grip on his arm. There's only one way they can go, trapped in between the walls of the mountains.

The pirates slip out of the shadows everywhere they look, scaling the rocks deftly to reach the ground. Their masks hide their faces, protecting their bodies under their thick steel armour. The next one to make a move pulls out a plasma gun and aims it right at them, pulling the trigger. Kyungsoo is quick enough to yank Yixing back just before the ground where he'd been standing explodes into dust.

Using the cloud of dust as cover, they all tear down along the path, dodging around the piles of rubble that explode in their way under the volley of laser beams. The pirates are closing in on them fast, more of them springing out from behind the ledges up above, trying to cut off their path and scatter them. Chanyeol is ripped away from Jongin when the earth between them explodes and he falls back to yank Jongdae up when he stumbles over a rock. Jongin dashes ahead after the others, trying to keep his oxygen mask steady over his nose. The gravity boots are heavier than regular shoes, weighing him down enough that his reflexes are a beat too slow, just barely jumping out of the way when part of the wall collapses. 

There's a fork up ahead splitting in three directions and there’s nothing left to do but split up to break down the cluster of pirates behind them. Jongin hurtles along the middle path, flanked by Baekhyun who’s holding his arms up in front of his eyes, shielding himself from the dust and gravel they're kicking up. Jongin can't see anyone but he can tell they're being followed, almost sensing the dangerous presence of someone giving them chase. 

In all the chaos, it happens so fast that Jongin doesn't even see it coming.

"Jongin, watch out!" Baekhyun yells beside him when a giant shadow falls over them; a boulder being pushed off the edge of the mountain side, aiming to crush them. They throw themselves into the mountain wall on either side just as the giant rock smashes on the ground between them with an earsplitting crash.

"Shit," Jongin hisses, clutching his bleeding cheek where a flying jagged piece of rock nicked him. His mask is cracked but luckily, still working. 

"Jongin!" He hears Baekhyun's voice calling out through the thick cloud of dust. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" he calls back, scrambling to his feet. The dust starts to clear and he sees Baekhyun's figure approaching. He can make out Baekhyun’s face, twisted with worry, just before a dark figure rising up behind him.

Baekhyun cries out in pain before Jongin can even shout out his name, turning around a beat too late. He watches helplessly as Baekhyun falls down on one knee heavily, clutching at his stomach. The figure behind him raises his arm again, the blade stained red in his hands, and Jongin moves instinctively, throwing himself forward and lunges at the pirate before he swings his hand down. It's enough to make him stagger backwards off balance before he gets his footing again and slams Jongin hard against the wall. Wheezing, Jongin crumples to the ground in pain, feeling his lungs caving in on themselves. He doesn’t get a chance to get recuperate before the pirate ducks down beside him and curls his fingers around Jongin’s neck with a steely grip, squeezing so hard that Jongin sees explosions of white. The pirate slams his head back against the wall but Jongin's ready for him, clasping his hand around a loose rock by his side and swings it up to smash it into the pirate's skull. He slides out from under him when the pirate staggers back with a grunt, stumbling unsteadily. 

Jongin blinks past the dizziness lurking in the periphery of his eyes, ignoring the smarting pain at the base of his skull and rushes over to Baekhyun's side where he's collapsed on the ground, bleeding from his stomach. His mask is almost completely shattered. 

"Come on," he grunts desperately, trying to get Baekhyun up on his feet despite his anguished moans. " _Shit_ , I’m sorry, we have to go!"

He throws one of Baekhyun's arms around his own shoulders, securing him against his side and struggles to balance his weight as he pulls them forward quickly, desperate to get away and find somewhere safe to hide. Baekhyun's crying out softly beside him even as he bites his lip, trying to swallow it down. He’s choking, struggling to breathe through the broken mask that won’t last much longer in this state. From the corner of his eye, Jongin can see red, too much red and he swallows back his panic, holding Baekhyun closer as he scans their surroundings frantically.

He can hear more explosions somewhere in the distance ahead of them and distant yelling behind them; they don’t have much time. Baekhyun's getting weaker by the second, wheezing and tripping over his own feet, stumbling dizzily even as he tries to keep his hand clutched over his wound.

A narrow opening behind a large rock suddenly catches Jongin's eye and he guides Baekhyun over to it hastily. There's a small path that leads up, almost like a staircase and Jongin holds on to Baekhyun more tightly, whispering apologies into his ear as he hauls them both up until they come into a small flat plane of earth. They’re elevated a few feet off the ground, overlooking the main path but hidden from view behind a jagged rock ledge.

Jongin prays that it will keep them safe enough from being found, working on unwinding Baekhyun's arm from around his neck to lower him down on the ground slowly. He peers over the ledge tentatively, trying to get a look at the path below, hoping to spot anyone else from the crew.

Baekhyun’s groan draws his attention back, weak from the run and his hand falls away from the wound in his stomach, the deep red blooming through his clothes.

"No!" Jongin whispers desperately, falling to his knees beside him and presses his own hands down on the wound, trying to keep enough pressure on it. "Just hold on!"

There's still blood trickling through his fingers, spilling across his skin and Jongin feels the panic rise up in his throat again. This is much more than a simple flesh wound; the knife must have cut through a main artery. Jongin hasn’t been through enough first aid lessons to know how to deal with this, watching helplessly as the blood oozes out .

Baekhyun's breathing is shallow but he's lucid enough to chuckle, like him bleeding to death is the biggest joke of the century. He coughs wetly, wheezing for air through the shattered mask before settling down again. His oxygen tank is emptying out rapidly through the broken air valve.

"Taking the chance to feel me up huh, Jonginnie?" he grins weakly, staring up at Jongin. His eyes are crinkled into a smile but his face is pale, his mouth is pulled tight with pain. He knows he’s in trouble despite all the jokes.

"I just- I have to-," Jongin says, half to himself, trying to pull himself together. He needs something to bind Baekhyun's middle and stop the bleeding. Yanking down his zipper, Jongin shrugs out of the sleeves of his jumpsuit, struggling to wrangle the T-shirt underneath over his head and tears it up into strips. Makeshift bandages will have to do for now.

It’s hard to dress the wound without jostling Baekhyun too much, a stream of apologies falling from his lips with every pained moan Baekhyun tries and fails to bite back.

"Fucking hate Terra knives," Baekhyun laughs bitterly, wincing at the twinge of pain the movement brings. "Pirates like them unpolished and rough so it’ll make a bigger mess when they stick it in you.”

There's sweat pouring down his pale face and Jongin can see him gritting his teeth, trying to swallow back his groans. He’s in a lot more pain than he’s letting on and Jongin feels completely useless. They need to get out of here. 

He guides Baekhyun's hand back up to the messy dressing over his wound, urging him to put pressure on it while he steps away for a second to peer over the ledge. They need to find a window of opportunity to make a break for it and get back to the ship. Edging towards the wall, he leans over the ledge to get a glimpse of the path and immediately sees a cluster of black masks and glints of silver. Jongin whips his head away from the edge immediately, choking back a gasp.

He sinks back down on the ground next to Baekhyun a little shakily, desperately pressing a finger to his lips to keep him silent. He nudges Baekhyun's hand away from the wound gently and takes over again, pressing down to stop the bleeding.

"There's four of them," he mouths at him, wincing when whatever blood remains in Baekhyun's face drains away.

They're trapped here, unable to make a move. They don’t stand a chance against the pirates standing right on the other side of the wall, especially when Baekhyun is bleeding out in the dirt.

He tries to whisper something to Baekhyun again but the loud roar of an engine coming to life somewhere in the distance cuts him off. Startled, Jongin jerks his head up to look at the sky, feeling Baekhyun shifting curiously.

"Shit," he hears him hiss, not bothering to stay quiet when his voice is almost completely drowned out by the noise. "That's-"

"No," Jongin whispers, when the source of the noise comes into sight. The Vivapolo rises from the ground up into the sky at a rapid pace, maneuvering and twisting around, clearly trying to dodge the volley of plasma rays targeting it. It changes direction in mid-air, flying the other way, only a hundred feet from where Baekhyun and Jongin are, and Jongin's face lights up. But the ship doesn't stop, only speeding on and heads further and further away from where they are, putting more distance between them.

Jongin's heart plummets to the ground, panic rising in his throat and he nearly opens his mouth to cry out before catching himself in time, remembering where they are. He can't call out to them without blowing his cover. Not that they would hear him anyway, already leaving him behind at top speed.

Something cold washes over his body, muscles locking, numb and paralyzed with fear when he stares up at the empty sky. The ship has already disappeared, enveloped in the dark canvas of space.

He's been abandoned again. Something familiar aches behind his ribs and suddenly he can't breathe, can't swallow around the lump of fear rising in his throat. The sky stays clear and unmoving no matter how long he stares at it, seeing nothing but the stars and the dark veil of deep space around him. It feels like he’s back on his old ship again staring out the window hopelessly when he was left behind the first time, desperately waiting for something to move, for someone to remember him and to come back for him. Just like back then, nothing moves and no one comes. It feels like the stars are blinking down at him mockingly, laughing at him for daring to hope again this time.

It's the sound of Baekhyun's groan that cuts through his spiralling throughs, making him snap his neck down and rip his eyes away from the emptiness above. He’d been unconsciously pressing down on Baekhyun’s wound too heavily and immediately pulls back apologetically. 

He's shivering, Jongin notices, which is not surprising after how much blood he's lost. The flow oozing out of the wound seems to have eased up somewhat but he doesn’t take his hand off it, scared he’s start bleeding out again. Squeezing his own tears away, Jongin forces himself to swallow down the hysteria rising in his chest, trying to keep his head. He shifts, careful not to kick any little rocks under his boots that would make enough noise to give them away and settles down against the wall, stretching his legs out in front of him. Sliding his fingers under Baekhyun's head, he lifts gently and scoots in closer to set him down comfortably on his lap.

Jongin looks down and meets his stare, Baekhyun’s eyes mirroring the same worry even if their fear is different. They need to get him to Yixing, to get his wound cleaned and patched up as soon as possible.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, with as much confidence as he can muster. His voice only wavers once. “They’ll come back for us.”

His confidence falters when he dares to look back up again, his words ringing emptily. They're gone and there's no indication that they’ll return at all. It’s too dangerous, he knows that, but to think that they would they really just leave them here makes his heart drop.

He rips his eyes away and shakes his head, as if the movement will banish the dark thoughts. The crew; they’re good people all of them, he’s spent enough time around them to see that. They wouldn’t do that to Baekhyun and him; _Chanyeol_ wouldn’t do that. Jongin refuses to believe they’re just collateral damage even as his heart sinks further. 

Chanyeol. The man who found him and asked him to join his team without a second thought, working painstakingly hard to make sure his ship runs smoothly and that his crew is safe. Jongin is part of that crew now and despite how bleak it’s looking, Jongin trusts him with everything he has. 

“He’ll come, I know he’ll come,” Jongin insists until Baekhyun nods weakly, knowing exactly who he’s talking about. _Please, please, please_.

Back on his battered old ship he’d been alone with nothing to hope for even if he held on to it for as long as he could. He’s got Chanyeol to hope for now and he believe in it this time, clinging to it like a lifeline. 

“Come on,” he mutters under his breath, too scared to look at the sky as he begs silently. He cards his fingers through Baekhyun's damp hair, matted to his head, trying to soothe him through the pain. Jongin grinds his teeth together, tears springing in the corners of his eyes as the seconds tick by and Baekhyun starts bleeding out again, soaking right through the dressing. Baekhyun is the only reason he hasn’t completely lost it by now, knowing that it’s both their lives on the line here and right now Baekhyun needs him. Blinking back the tears, Jongin forces the fear into the background and whispers Chanyeol’s name under his breath like a mantra, hoping with every ounce he has left in his entire being. 

Baekhyun hasn't said a word, focusing on his breathing; his tank is running dangerously low by now. He's paler than Jongin has ever seen him and it scares him, more quiet and grave faced than he's used to. He’s in agony and Jongin can see it every time a nerve in his temple twitches when a twinge of pain flares up, feeling the way Baekhyun grinds his teeth and swallows it down.

He keeps running his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair gently, the only thing he can do to take his mind off the pain. Jongin wishes he had a canister of water to offer him, his dry lips and raspy breathing indicative of how parched he is. 

The area has gotten eerily silent, no sign of fighting or pacing footsteps on the other side of the wall. Jongin cocks an ear, trying to listen harder for anything that might take them by surprise but there’s nothing. With nothing else to focus on, he’s hit by the sudden, awful realization that he’s sitting in a pool of Baekhyun’s blood, his hands stained red nearly all the way up to his elbows from carrying him earlier. 

_Help_ , he pleads in desperate silence, terrified at thought that Baekhyun might die in his arms. 

The quiet hum of an engine suddenly breaks through the silence and Jongin jerks his head up, petrified that the pirates are coming at them from above.

Instead, he's greeted by the sight of a small two-man capsule descending right over them, the vibrant Vivapolo crest painted on the underside. Jongin deflates completely, breathing out something between a shaky laugh and a sob, tears of relief brimming in his eyes.

"Ah, finally," Baekhyun croaks with a weary laugh. "It's our knight in a shiny tin can."

"I knew he'd come," Jongin whispers, still looking up at the ship hovering overhead and catches sight of the stars twinkling in the background around it. He smiles to himself, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes to wipe his tears away hastily. He lowers Baekhyun’s head back on the ground carefully, and scrambles to his feet on wobbly knees. 

The ship slots in between the walls and slips into the narrow groove easily, built especially for this kind of fine maneuvering, and lands with a hiss of steam.

The top door slides open and Chanyeol clambers out, his face pale but looking as relieved as Jongin feels. Jongin's already stumbling forward the second Chanyeol leaps out from the pilot seat and throws his arms around his neck. Chanyeol's arms come around to hold him steady, tightening around his waist enough to knock the air out of him and it doesn't even matter because Chanyeol came back for him. Jongin heaves out a dry sob into his neck, feeling Chanyeol's fingers carding through his hair soothingly. The gesture brings him back into focus, turning his attention back to Baekhyun. 

"We need to get him to Yixing," he says urgently, pulling away from Chanyeol's embrace, wondering if his eyes are as glassy as Chanyeol's are right now. The path below the ledge is thankfully still clear when he chances a glance and he turns back to Baekhyun, ignoring his knowing smirk even with the lines of pain on his face. He drops to his knees by Baekhyun’s shoulders, ready to hoist him up with Chanyeol’s help.

"What happened?" Chanyeol asks, gently peering under the bloody coverings around his middle first. His jaw hardens at the sight of the wound and lets the covering drop back. Baekhyun doesn’t even crack a joke about it, his energy completely spent by now and his body evidently overcome by exhaustion, pain and relief now that Chanyeol's here.

"They blocked our path and one of them came up from behind," Jongin explains, his voice trembling as he waves an indicative hand at the bloody patch on Baekhyun's clothes.

"I thought- for a second we thought you guys had left," he adds quietly, guiltily lowering his eyes to Baekhyun's hair instead of looking up at Chanyeol's face. "When we saw the ship leave-"

"The Vivapolo is too bulky and easily visible," Chanyeol cuts in, and Jongin feels the heavy, grounding weight of his hand on his shoulder. "I had to hide her away and get the others to safety before coming back to get you guys."

"I would never leave you behind," he goes firmly, validating Jongin’s hope with his words. Jongin feels the ghost of Chanyeol's thumb brushing against his cheek, sliding up along the dried blood from the sharp cut. He comes back to himself a moment later, focusing on the matter at hand. 

"He's lost a lot of blood," Jongin says, motioning at Baekhyun's legs for Chanyeol to grab them while he slips his hands under Baekhyun's arms. "His tank is almost out too."

They make quick work of carrying him across the short distance, hoisting him up as gently as they can before lowering him into the back seat of the ship. They're running out of time; Jongin can hear the shouting again and spots at least three pirates sliding down onto a high rocky ledge barely fifty feet from where they are, already pulling out their weapons. 

"It's gonna be tight fit," Chanyeol tells him, hastily hopping into the driver's seat and scoots over to make space for Jongin.

There's no time to be finicky about it and Jongin leaps into the ship, tugging the overhead door shut before dropping into the seat, almost entirely pressed up into Chanyeol's side.

Chanyeol starts up the engine, yanking the control stick around anxiously when the ship powers up too slowly. He pulls the gear stick down to steer the ship up just as a blast slams into the side and rocks them dangerously, almost tipping them over.

Chanyeol curses, trying to get them back in balance and up in the air quickly. They're hit in the side again, and Jongin slams into Chanyeol's side. He'd worry about the proximity more if it weren't for the moan of pain he hears behind him and the flash of red blasting outside, just missing them by a fraction.

Jongin twists around as best he can, holding onto Chanyeol's arm for balance as he reaches back to grasp Baekhyun's hand tightly. Growling low in his throat, Chanyeol veers the ship in a zig zag formation, skillfully dodging another volley of plasma rays and steers them up into the sky at full speed, as fast as the engine will take them. Jongin doesn't even realize they're both yelling until they've pulled out of the planet's stratosphere, plunging into the still silence of space.

"Fuck, that was close," Jongin wheezes, his heart hammering against his ribs painfully. His hand is still gripping Chanyeol's arm tightly and he loosens his fingers, letting his hand fall away quickly. 

"Let’s get back to the others," Chanyeol murmurs, checking the coordinates on the radar screen.

Yixing is there to greet them the second they land inside the rear end of the ship, immediately pulling Jongin into a hug and giving him a quick once over before shifting his attention to Baekhyun, still lying in the backseat of the ship. The others crowd around them, yanking Jongin around in one armed hugs and thumping Chanyeol on the back, the relief evident in everyone’s eyes. They move to help Yixing transfer Baekhyun from the ship onto a stretcher bed to rush him into the infirmary.

Jongin stays behind, watching their retreating backs. His muscles suddenly feel like lead, weighed down by the sudden crash of exhaustion and crippling relief that he's even standing here.

"Are you okay?"

Jongin turns at the sound of Chanyeol's voice. He's smiling at him and Jongin smiles back, ignoring the uncomfortable pull of the cut on his cheek. 

“Thank you,” Jongin says quietly. “For coming back for us.”

Chanyeol turns to look at him seriously, abandoning the buckles he’s fiddling with on his jumpsuit. He steps closer into Jongin’s space, holding his gaze with a determined look in his eyes. 

"Jongin, I-"

"Captain!"

They’re jolted out of the moment at the sound of Sehun calling, jerking away from each other.

"What is it?" Chanyeol asks and Jongin swears he can hear the slightest hint of frustration in his voice.

"Yixing needs you."

"I'll be right there." Sehun nods at the reply and leaves the room again to join the rest in the infirmary.

"Let’s go," Chanyeol says, turning to Jongin with a smile. It's still as genuine as ever and Jongin breathes a little easier. Chanyeol brings his hand up and pats the back of Jongin's head, ruffling his hair. It's meant to be playful but Jongin feels a sudden knife of pain ricocheting through his skull at the contact and flinches away with a startled cry.

"Jongin?" Chanyeol's yanks his hands away, brows furrowing on his forehead worriedly. 

Jongin groans, having almost forgotten about the nasty slam he'd taken against the rock in the struggle with the pirate. His attention was too focused on Baekhyun’s wound at the time to give it any notice. 

"Why didn't you say something?" Chanyeol chides him, tugging Jongin closer by the wrist and turns him around insistently to get a better look at it.

"Yixing had more important things to focus on," Jongin grumbles, yelping when Chanyeol's fingers slide into his hair and probe a little too close to where the pain is blooming.

"You're important too," Chanyeol says quietly, fingers stilling for a moment. Jongin can't find the words to say to that, spared from having to find any when Chanyeol speaks up again, dropping his hand. His chest constricts.

"You’ll probably need a few stitches."

Jongin nods and doesn't protest when Chanyeol drags him into the infirmary, insisting that Yixing take a look once he's done with Baekhyun. The tips of his ears are still flushed red and Jongin wonders if it’s just from the exertion of their narrow escape.

 

▸

 

Jongin heads back over to the infirmary later on when Baekhyun wakes up and asks for him. Yixing nods at him with a smile as he leaves the room, giving them a moment of privacy. Baekhyun looks much better even though he’s still too pale for Jongin’s liking.

“Hyung,” he greets when Baekhyun turns to look at him.

“Hey kid,” Baekhyun smiles, a little lacking from his usual lively cheer but wide enough to know that he'll bounce back in no time.

There’s nowhere to sit, so Jongin perches on the edge of the bed beside him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better now,” Baekhyun says. He reaches up to prod Jongin between his eyebrows with his finger. “Hey. Don’t look so worried. You’ll get wrinkles.”

Jongin pushes his hand away with a weak laugh. It seems like Baekhyun’s already drained of all his energy from just that, despite the smile he keeps on his face.

“Been one hell of a day, huh?" Baekhyun laughs softly, far less humour in his tone than he'd probably intended. His smile slips a little.

Jongin nods, sucking in a shuddering breath when the memory of warm blood spurting between his fingers flashes through his mind again. It took a long time to scrub the red out of his skin, running water over his hands until his fingers were all pruney and even then it felt like it would never wash away.

“Jongin. Thank you.”

Surprised, Jongin looks up and Baekhyun is looking back at him seriously. The smile is gone now but his eyes are sure.

"You didn’t have to stay. You could have run back to the ship to get away with the others,” Baekhyun reaches out and curls a finger around Jongin’s wrist, swallowing tightly. “I just- thanks for not leaving me out there.”

Jongin blinks at him incredulously, the thought never having even crossed his mind. He could never live with himself if he'd done that. Jongin wants to say something but the words stick heavily in his throat. Instead, he covers Baekhyun’s hand with his own and squeezes, hoping he understands what he's trying to say. It’s enough for Baekhyun, who beams at him.

"So, any chance you can sneak a muffin in here for me? Yixing's got me on fluids; terribly unappetizing."

Jongin chokes out a laugh, feeling the bubble of anxiety lift from his chest when Baekhyun reaches out to tap his chin with his finger and laughs with him. They'll be alright.

 

▸

 

They're eating lunch together almost a week later when Chanyeol pushes his plate aside and beckons Jongin to follow him, taking him to a part of the ship that Jongin has never been to before. Chanyeol ushers him through a door onto a staircase that leads up. 

"You know, if this is another one of your secret music interventions, I'm not gonna fall for it," Jongin says, holding on to the railing as he goes up the stairs.

"Shut up, that was a great idea," Chanyeol jabs him in the back, and Jongin swats him away.

He sidesteps Jongin when they get to the door at the top, punching in the keys on the control panel to slide the door open and steps inside.

The entire room itself is empty, the floor completely bare of any furniture but that's not what catches Jongin's eye. It's the dome of glass enclosing the entire room instead of a ceiling and walls. It's like they're in a giant glass bubble, with the best view of the stars Jongin has ever seen.

"We call it the Planetarium Dome," Chanyeol says, typing in a set of controls into the panel. "Watch this."

He pushes the final button and Jongin's jaw drops at the sudden explosion of colour around them, wisps of red trailing into swirls of green and blue around the stars up above.

"What is this?" he breathes in awe, stepping right up to the glass to take in the magnificent view. 

"The glass uses a charge-coupled device to record light photons; it's designed for any wavelength so we can see the nebulas and everything else in colour," Chanyeol explains proudly, coming up beside him to enjoy the view with him. "I come here a lot when I need to think; it helps me wind down."

Jongin marvels at the myriad of colours drawing patterns around the constellations, so breathtaking he can't even find the words for it.

It's strange to think how he's come to this point where he can look up at the beauty of the stars again after not being able to look at them at all for a while. It's giving him whiplash. The thought inevitably touches back on the memories he's been trying so hard to bury. 

Chanyeol steps up beside him quietly, watching the colours with him. Pressing his palm against the glass, Jongin is hit by the old ache of feeling lost and hopeless while staring out at the very same stars. 

The bubble in his chest pops and Jongin finally lets the words pour out. He spares Chanyeol the details from those two months, still feeling too raw; he only tells him how he tried to survive in the suffocating loneliness. It feels like he’s being ripped apart from the cracks where he’s been broken, smarting like a reopened wound. A lump rises in his throat and his voice breaks but Jongin holds it in until he’s done, until he’s laid everything out before Chanyeol. He inhales deeply and manages to work up a wobbly smile, staring out at the stars that don't hurt him anymore.

He feels Chanyeol shift closer, his fingers curling around Jongin’s to squeeze his hand. His silence is telling and Jongin has learnt to read it perfectly by now; empathetic towards his suffering, grateful to Jongin for opening up to him.

“You’re safe here,” he murmurs quietly, still holding onto Jongin’s hand. He waits until Jongin turns to face him and holds his gaze with a look of determination in his eyes. He doesn’t say anything else because he doesn’t have to. 

The stars fade into the background and Jongin focuses on Chanyeol’s face instead, captivated by the shine in his eyes that made Jongin start trusting him when they first met. Chanyeol is still holding to his hand, using it to tug him closer and Jongin can almost feel his hot breath on his face-

“Chanyeol, Yixing said...ah...he needs to see you.”

Jongdae peers through the door, a little embarrassed even as he tries to hide his grin behind his hand. 

“I’ll be right there,” Chanyeol sighs, closing his eyes, looking pained. Jongin steps back, clearing his throat awkwardly and the spell is broken, 

Chanyeol squeezes his shoulder before sweeping out of the room after Jongdae, leaving Jongin in the room by himself. Jongin stays in the dome a little longer, admiring the colours before heading back to his room. He opens his wardrobe and lifts himself up on his tiptoes to reach for the small shoebox he’s got stashed away on the top shelf. There’s not much in it, just his old ID tags, a small worn out notebook and the video camera. 

Jongin takes the camera out and turns it around slowly in his hands, tracing along every tiny scratch marring the surface with his thumb. This was his only life line for a long time. Popping open the back, he slips in a pair of new batteries he’d gotten from the supply room and snaps it shut. He stares at it for a moment, sliding down against the wardrobe to sit on the floor and heaves in a deep breath before turning in on.

It’s been a while since he heard the beep of the lens, waiting till the files load up on the tiny screen. He scrolls through the list of videos until he finds the first one in the list; the very first video diary he’d shot. His fingers tremble when he presses play, trying to hold the camera steady. 

He goes through them all, one by one, reliving the entire ordeal with no one but himself for company and his heart hurts. The tears finally spill over the rims of his eyes, dripping off his nose and chin when he remembers every single moment of loneliness and fear, seeing it written all over his own face on the screen. It’s agonizing to watch himself trying to stay alive, so painfully positive at the very start before he visibly started to lose his spark towards the end. The transition is startling, watching the light fade from his own eyes, the way the hard lines grew more pronounced around his gaunt face, even the way his voice changed.

Jongin presses his fist into his aching chest and breaks down, sobbing so hard he can’t hold the camera straight to watch anymore through the tears. He doesn’t try to stop, finally letting it all out of his system and mourns the two months of his life that he lost. 

He goes through the video files again and deletes them one by one, letting them go along with all the reminders and memories of the pain. It’s cathartic, putting the past behind him where he never has to touch it, feeling that much lighter by the end of it. He never wants to go back to that dark place again.

Eventually, he drags himself to the bathroom and cleans his face up in the sink. He sucks in a huge lungful of air, holding it for a moment before exhaling in a long, slow breath. Jongin smiles, heading out of his room to see where he can be of help around the ship and make himself useful.

 

▸

 

When Junmyeon’s birthday comes around, everyone gathers in the spacey lounge room to celebrate. It's not a particularly extravagant affair but Baekhyun and Jongdae seem to have gone out of their way to make sure the room looks like something that exploded out of a Christmas cracker. Jackson seems to have put in a lot of work with the cake too; a spectacular two tier chocolate cake sitting proudly on the table among the rest of the snacks and finger food.

There's music blaring out from the speakers, balancing out the animated chatter and laughter in the room. Jongin snorts when he spots the party hat sitting on Junmyeon’s head, his cheeks a little flushed while Kyungsoo fixes the elastic string under his chin. He turns to give Jongin a giant hug when he wishes him a happy birthday, slapping a party hat on his head too with a laugh.

Grabbing a cup of punch for himself, Jongin takes a sip and grins contently, basking in relaxed ambiance, among laughter and easy chatter. It feels like something is missing after a moment of scanning the room and Jongin suddenly zones in on the fact that Chanyeol isn't there. Frowning, he turns to the entrance, staring hard at the door like Chanyeol might walk in any minute with an apology on his lips for being late. No one shows up though and Jongin’s shoulders slump, suddenly losing his appetite for the sugary drink in his hand. Setting the cup down he heads over to where Baekhyun is standing with a group of others, laughing at some joke Sooyoung made.

“Hey,” he says quietly, cupping Baekhyun’s elbow to get his attention. “Where’s Chanyeol?”

Baekhyun downs the rest of his drink and smacks his lips together in satisfaction. He tugs Jongin along with him when he goes over to the bar for a refill.

“There’s another wormhole coming up soon,” Baekhyun says, offering the him the bottle of alcohol but Jongin holds a hand up politely. Shrugging, Baekhyun fills his own cup to the brim. “The ride through is always rough; he’s always trying to figure out how to make the transition smoother for everyone and the ship before we go in. You’ll probably find him in his room.”

Squeezing his arm gratefully, Jongin heads over to the door, stopping by the food table to shovel a huge piece of cake onto a napkin. It’s the first wormhole they’re going through since Jongin’s been here. It never even occurred to him to take a look at the ship’s data to adjust the frequencies for a transition like he’d discovered back on his own ship. He still has trouble bringing up memories from back then, even if it was a breakthrough in his own research. 

Chanyeol is in his room, just as Baekhyun said, poring over a deskful of charts and data tablets. He doesn’t even hear Jongin come in, startling when he sets a hand on his shoulder. Chuckling, Chanyeol pushes his chair back, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, his face immediately lighting up when Jongin sets the cake down in front of him. “You’re missing the party.”

“So are you,” Jongin says pointedly, dropping into the chair beside him. “Thought maybe I could give you a hand.”

He stares at the spread across the table, the familiar calculations and numbers from the radar sensors. The process is always a gamble, only getting all the data from the detected frequency once the ship is actually close enough to get a reading. To date, there’s still no known way of getting through a wormhole smoothly.

Chanyeol pushes one of the data tablets towards him obligingly, sitting back with a sigh. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbow and the clasp around his collar is undone. He drags a hand through his hair again, a habit Jongin’s noticed when Chanyeol’s stressed.

He picks up the cake and takes a huge bite out of it while Jongin busies himself with the data, humming blissfully at the taste. 

“You know, you really didn’t have to pull yourself out of the party for me,” Chanyeol says after a moment, dusting the crumbs away. 

Jongin looks up from the tablet, trying to read the strange look in Chanyeol’s eyes. He wonders if his own eyes are easy to read right now. 

“I wanted to,” he smiles, dropping his eyes again when the back of his neck burns. He doesn’t wait to see the look on Chanyeol’s face, fidgeting anxiously with the device in his hands. Jongin startles a moment later when he feels the weight of Chanyeol’s head drop on his shoulder, shifting around to try and accommodate the awkward angle. 

“I’m so tired, data analysis sucks,” he whines and Jongin barks out a laugh, patting his hair sympathetically. 

Humming, he pulls up the simulator program on the screen, studying the ship’s frequency data and inputs several commands on the keyboard. 

“I think I figured out how to do it,” Jongin says quietly, feeling Chanyeol shift attentively. “When I was on my ship, I figured out an algorithm.”

He taps in the final command and holds the tablet out for Chanyeol to see. 

“It’s untested of course, I couldn’t- my ship-...I don’t know for sure but this should work.”

Chanyeol takes the tablet from him, watching the simulation run on the screen, his jaw dropping incredulously. The numbers on the screen are meant to record the damage levels of the entire ship, calculating the stability of the radiators and engines against the frequency levels of the wormhole. The numbers Jongin is showing him are a lot lower than any Chanyeol has been able to produce. 

“How did- you used an algorithm?” Chanyeol gapes at him. He stares between Jongin and the tablet, an awed smile creeping onto his lips. “Shit, that’s- you’re amazing, you know that?”

Jongin’s flushes, bumping his arm into Chanyeol’s shyly. He’s still staring at him when Jongin looks up, the look in his eyes changing to something deeper, his smile fading away. With so little space between their chairs, their faces are already close together. Chanyeol’s eyes are at half mast, looking at him with an expression that shoots a spike of heat in Jongin’s stomach. The air between them feels charged and Jongin swallows, not trusting himself to do anything. He panics. 

“I should get back to the party,” he blurts out, regretting it the second the words are out but he doesn’t take them back. “They’re going to sing for Junmyeon soon.”

He kicks himself when Chanyeol pulls away and nods, turning back to the mess on his table to clean it up. Jongin steps out of the room and the door hisses shut behind him. Sighing, he turns to head back to the common room where he can still hear the party booming. He’s only taken a few steps before he stops, frozen in the middle of the hallway, feeling his heart thundering in his chest. There’s an anxious ball of fear twisting in his chest where it shouldn’t even be because Chanyeol has made him feel safe since the moment he met him. Jongin has opened himself up to him where he wouldn’t have with anyone else, because he trusts him enough to do so. It’s probably been a long time coming, after feeling Chanyeol’s every touch sear through his veins, white hot and electric, catching his smiles and feeling his heart swell. There’s always been something there, the way Chanyeol makes him feel so light, like gravity has dropped around them, in a ring where Chanyeol’s eyes always soften and deepen with something more intense when he looks at him. There’s nothing to be afraid of. 

Jongin marches back up to the closed door, trying to work up the courage to slide it open. It hisses open before he’s even done anything and Chanyeol nearly bumps into him, looking like he’d been about to dash out of the room. He stares down at Jongin wide eyed, visibly swallowing and Jongin feels his own throat go dry. 

“Hi,” he breathes and Chanyeol pitches forward, pressing their mouths together. His lips are soft against his own, warm when he slots them together to kiss him, reaching up to palm the side of his face. Jongin gasps into it, shivering when Chanyeol licks inside and reaches around to fist his hands in the back of Chanyeol’s clothes. Jongin can taste the chocolate on the back of his tongue from the cake he brought earlier. He pulls Chanyeol in closer, keeping him pressed up tighter against him and kisses back fervently, drowning in the wet heat of his mouth. 

Chanyeol pulls away for air and Jongin gives him a moment before capturing his lips again, feeling the tip of Chanyeol’s nose pressing into his cheek. He brings a hand up around Chanyeol’s neck, to steady himself and draw him closer like there’s still too much space between them. 

They’re both gasping when they pull apart, chests heaving against each other. 

“So,” Jongin smiles, a little bashfully when Chanyeol focuses on his face so intently again. “Were you headed somewhere?”

Snorting, Chanyeol twists and throws an arm around Jongin’s shoulders to drag him down the hallway back to the party, his laughter echoing off the steel walls.

 

▸

 

It wouldn’t have stayed a secret for very long with Baekhyun and Jongdae around, so they don’t try to hide it, even if they keep their PDA to a minimum around the others. 

“No point lying to them,” Chanyeol had said, “They’re family.”

The next day is busy enough that there’s no time to discuss it properly anyway. They’ll be going through the wormhole soon and the ship needs to be ready before they do. Chanyeol had handed off the tablet with instructions about the algorithm to the engineers and programmers, making sure the entire ship’s systems are calibrated correctly. They lower a steel cover over the cockpit window, for extra protection. 

There’s no guarantee that it will work perfectly, so everyone straps themselves into the safety chairs as usual anyway, bracing themselves for the impact. Jongin notices Jongdae reaching over to hold Baekhyun’s hand on the other end of the room from where he and Chanyeol are. Chanyeol had already told him about the different reaction everyone seems to have to the wormhole, particularly Baekhyun’s heavy nosebleeds. Still, he looks away, feeling like he’s intruded on a private moment. 

“Alright everyone, hold on tight!” Chanyeol calls out when the signal goes off, starting the journey into the wormhole. 

The ship starts to shake, rattling them around and Jongin finds Chanyeol’s hand to hold onto when the engines roar louder than usual. Squeezing his eyes shut, Jongin keep his chin down against his chest, trying not to bite his tongue in half with every jolt of the ship. It feels like they’re driving a land rover over a dirt road with the way they’re jerked around in their seats, the belts digging into their clothes. 

Jongin can just feel a headache starting to rattle in his skull when the shaking stops abruptly and the engines quiet down. Cracking an eye open, Jongin looks around to see everyone else do the same, looking around warily. 

“Did it work?” Jongin murmurs, reaching up to touch his nostrils. There’s no blood. He’s a little nauseous but he’s not throwing his guts up yet like last time. The others seem to be checking for the same thing, looking for blood or any sign that someone is about to be violently sick. 

Chanyeol unbuckles his belt, heading over to the navigation board and types in some commands, making the steel retract from the glass. Seulgi joins him by the screens, pulling up status reports and checks the ship’s vitals. 

“We’re clear!”

The room erupts into a rowdy applause, all unstrapping themselves from the seats now that the danger has passed. It actually worked. Jongin chokes out an exhale, feeling a swell of joy rising in his chest. He gets a lot of slaps on the back from the rest of the crew, cheering at him and Jongin can’t stop beaming proudly, overwhelmed. 

He just catches Chanyeol slipping out of the room from the corner of his eye and he manages to pull himself out of the crowd, following him out worriedly. Maybe he’s feeling sick-

His thought is cut off when he’s yanked over to the side, dragged into an empty circuit room. 

“Chanyeol? Are you okay-” 

Chanyeol swallows the rest of his words when he kisses him hard, pushing him up against the closed door and presses up close. Jongin laughs into it, reaching up to hold Chanyeol’s face in his hands and kisses him back, feeling the steady weight of Chanyeol’s hands on his hips. He tugs Chanyeol’s lower lip between his teeth, nipping at it lightly before dipping forward to flick his tongue inside, kissing Chanyeol so hard it makes his own head spin.

 

Their hidden make out sessions in every empty spot on the ship finally escalate when Jongin pushes Chanyeol down on his bed, trying to tug his clothes off. 

Chanyeol flips them over when they’ve thrown everything aside, pressing Jongin down with his weight. He kisses down Jongin’s bare chest, mouthing along his skin and follows with his fingers the lower he goes, leaving trails of fire sparking in his veins. Jongin slides his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair, gasping quietly, coming undone under Chanyeol’s soft lips. 

The first finger Chanyeol pushes in draws a sharp gasp and Jongin tightens his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair, silently asking for more. Still, Chanyeol takes it slow, working it in deeper and it feels so _good_ to be touched like this. Chanyeol kisses him again before adding another two and crooks his fingers, kissing down Jongin’s neck when he gasps at the tight fit. 

“So good, _fuck_ , Chanyeol,” Jongin pants incoherently when Chanyeol starts working him open, scissoring his fingers and pushing in deeper. A heavy heat spreads across Jongin’s entire body, flushed and arching off the bed the more Chanyeol drives his fingers in, knuckle-deep inside him. He can feel the spike of arousal searing in the pit of his stomach and he leans up to press a messy kiss against Chanyeol’s mouth, trying to get the message across, not trusting himself to speak.

Chanyeol finally eases in slowly, his breath catching in his throat when he’s buried right up to the hilt. He stills for a moment to catch his breath and Jongin clenches around him, beaming when Chanyeol moans deep in his throat, his elbows buckling down on the bed. 

“Oh, is that how you wanna play it?” Chanyeol pants, grinning as he leans down, arms framing either side of Jongin’s head. Jongin arches his neck, meeting him halfway in a slow kiss. 

It breaks when Jongin throws his head back with a loud moan, surprised when Chanyeol suddenly rocks his hips, slipping in deeper. He fucks Jongin slowly, grunting and breathing heavily into his neck and Jongin clings to him, bracing his hands on his shoulders. It’s hard to keep his voice down with Chanyeol fucking him like this, every deep thrust hitting the spot that has him seeing explosions of white behind his eyelids. His jaw goes slack, pushing his hips down to meet Chanyeol’s thrusts, feeling his arousal nearing the edge. 

Chanyeol is close too, his pace growing erratic and Jongin feels himself falling apart, eyes glazed over when he finally comes with a drawn out moan. Chanyeol fucks him through the aftershocks, chasing after his own release, and Jongin tugs him down to lick into his mouth, kissing him hard until Chanyeol goes rigid, hips stuttering as he comes. 

He slumps tiredly by Jongin’s side, making a feeble attempt to clean them up with his own T-shirt. Sated, Jongin crawls in closer, kissing a line up Chanyeol’s throat, feeling it bob under his lips when he swallows. 

Chanyeol slides his fingers down to cup his jaw and tugs him up to kiss him properly, languid and warm in the lazy aftermath. 

“Hey,” he says when they pull away, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Have you ever tried having sex in zero gravity?”

Jongin barks out a laugh, unsurprised that Chanyeol is actually serious about it. “Somehow I doubt that would work out.”

“Can’t know till you try, right?” Chanyeol grins, rolling forward to kiss the ball of his shoulder, slipping a hand under the sheets to squeeze his ass softly. 

Rolling his eyes, Jongin kisses a _’maybe’_ onto his lips.

 

▸

 

Jongin doesn’t even realize what route they’re on until he peers over Sooyoung’s shoulder curiously in the navigation room, looking at the coordinates on the screen. His heart stops in his chest, recognizing the numbers. 

His legs feel like they’re about to buckle under his weight the entire way to Chanyeol’s room, pausing outside his door before actually going in. He leans against the wall outside to steady himself, trying to figure out how he even feels about this. The heavy weight pressing down on his chest is telling enough. 

Chanyeol is inside, rummaging through his dresser for something and Jongin steps inside quietly, waiting. Chanyeol finally turns and smashes his hand against the drawer when he spots him, yelping in pain. 

“ _Ow_ , jesus, Jongin, you startled me,” Chanyeol wheezes, clutching his hand to his chest. He notices the expression on Jongin’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me we were en route to Earth?” Jongin asks finally, feeling his gut twist.

Chanyeol freezes, caught off guard before his face falls. “You finally found out, huh.”

He sounds sad. Jongin frowns, taking a step closer. “I would have found out eventually.”

“I know,” Chanyeol sighs, dropping down to sit on the edge of his bed. “Guess I was just trying to put it off a little longer.”

“Why?” Jongin frowns, confused. The mattress dips under his weight when he sits down beside him. 

Chanyeol sighs, staring down at his hands. “Jongin, we’re only docking for a couple of weeks. When we leave again, we’re not coming back for a long time.”

Stunned, Jongin reels backwards. “Oh.”

They sit in silence, neither of them having any words to say to that. That means goodbye and Jongin’s not quite sure he’s ready to say it yet. 

 

The crew puts together a huge dinner for everyone the eve before the descent, with the biggest spread of food Jongin has ever seen on the tables since he’s been here. The mood is a little somber, and everyone talks over each other a little louder than usual, as though trying to make up for it. Most of the dinner is just them showering Jongin with question, asking what he’s going to do once he’s back on Earth. 

Find Moonkyu first, Jongin thinks, realizing how long it’s been since he last saw him. Eventually the conversation derails and they all pitch in with what their plans are before they leave again and Jongin falls silent. He looks over at Chanyeol beside him; his eyes are still sad and Jongin’s heart feels heavy but they both make a huge effort to smile about it. He reaches out for Chanyeol’s hand under the table and squeezes it. 

He sleeps in Chanyeol’s room that night, rocking together on the mattress so they don’t have to talk about it but even after they’re done, neither of them gets much sleep anyway. They’ve been skirting around the topic, avoiding having to discuss what this means for them even though it’s already clear. The air has gotten awkward between them and Jongin deflates dejectedly, shivering when the sweat cools on his skin under the cold sheets. He rolls over and burrows into Chanyeol’s when he thinks he might be sleeping, but he feels Chanyeol’s arm wrap around his waist tighter, keeping him close. It’s enough break through the sudden wall between them to put him at ease and his eyes slip shut, only managing a few hours of fitful sleeping.

 

▸

 

He’s almost forgotten how incredibly beautiful Earth is until it comes into view, staring out the window in awe. It’s been so long. He’s been yearning to see it since the moment he lost sight of it and now that it’s there again, Jongin is breathless. It feels like seeing an old friend again after a long time apart. 

Still, the actual descent flashes by a lot quicker than he’d hoped, lost in his thoughts the entire way down now that he’s finally here, exactly where he wants to be. Or rather, where he wanted to be all those months ago. It’s a little more fuzzy now. 

Saying goodbye is hard. He makes his rounds of everyone on board, hugging them all tightly, exchanging a few words and wishing each other well. Baekhyun squeezes him extra hard, looking a little glassy eyed when he pulls away but Jongin is already being swept into another hug. He’s gotten so attached already. 

The ship is guided into a huge facility, the central department for incoming spaceships and space travellers for aftercare. The crew clears out of the exit docking bay of the ship until Chanyeol is the only one who stays behind and Jongin swallows through the tightness in his throat, starting to well up. 

“Thank you,” he manages, feeling that’s the right thing to start with after everything they’ve been through. He steps closer to look Chanyeol in the eye. “For everything.”

Chanyeol smiles sadly and palms his cheek softly, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to his lips. He presses their foreheads together, breathing him in. “Jongin, I-”

“Be safe, okay?” Jongin manages through the wobble in his voice. His eyes are misting over with tears and Chanyeol looks much the same, hands trembling against his face.

“Eat a shitton of burgers,” he says and Jongin coughs out a shaky laugh, kissing him through it. Chanyeol breaks off, eyes wet but he’s smiling again. 

“You’re amazing,” he breathes, his hot breath fanning across Jongin’s face when he leans up to kiss his brow. There’s a lot he wants to say and Jongin can see it, but he always knows Chanyeol would never try to guilt him into anything; like staying. A part of him wishes he would, even if he doesn’t know what he wants himself. Coming back to Earth has been everything he wanted for a long time he can’t tell if he’s still holding on to that out of genuine desire or because it’s what he thinks he should want. 

It takes a long time for them to finally part ways, whispering to each other a little longer before Jongin finally pulls away. The air doesn’t taste quite as fresh as he’d expected when he walks out of the ship and leaves Chanyeol behind.

 

▸

 

It takes a week for the re-adaptation training to finally kick in and another few days before Jongin can convince the doctors to let him leave the facility. He’s breaking protocol, of course, but protocol went out the window the day he got stranded in space in an entirely different dimension, he supposes. His stomach churns, sparking the nausea that triggers a headache in turn. He’ll need another week or so of training before he can sort out his wobbly balance too, but he needs to take care of something first. 

The white front gate finally comes into view when he rounds the corner. Jongin makes his way up the steps slowly, swallowing down the anxiety burning in his throat. It takes him three tries to ring the bell, his finger hovering over the buzzer before losing his nerve and stepping back. He’s not even sure why he’s so nervous, just that his hands are clammy and his heart is thundering. Bracing himself, Jongin jams his finger on the buzzer quickly before he falters again. Ignoring the way his gut twists, he resists the urge to run away. 

The door swings open moments later and Moonkyu steps out onto the threshold. His eyes widen the second he sees Jongin, his face going ashen. 

“Jongin,” he breathes out before lunging forward and throws himself at him, his arms winding around Jongin’s neck tightly. 

“God, Jongin I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he says over and over again, his words slightly muffled in Jongin’s neck. “I told them to keep looking, I tried. God, I thought you were _dead_ after you slipped off the radar; you’re – ”

He pulls back mid-rant, cutting himself off and just takes a moment to stare at Jongin, his eyes glistening as he cups the side of Jongin’s neck. Jongin feels the prickle of tears stinging in his own eyes, clutching at Moonkyu’s elbow tightly. Jongin always knew it but it’s still reassuring to actually hear that he never gave up on him.

“You’re alive. You’re here,” Moonkyu finally chokes out a laugh, still gaping in disbelief even as he palms the back of Jongin’s neck. “What happened out there, how– where have you _been_?”

Jongin offers a shaky laugh of his own, clamping a weak hand on Moonkyu’s shoulder just to make sure he’s really there. “It’s really good to see you, hyung.”

Moonkyu looks torn between crying and laughing, still scanning Jongin’s face with watery eyes. He registers that they’re still standing on the front step of his door a moment later because he pulls away and steps aside to invite Jongin inside eagerly.

He ushers Jongin into the living room before heading off to the kitchen with the promise of food. Jongin’s knees creak when he drops onto the familiar plush couch Moonkyu has had since college. He thumbs at the dark wine stain on the cushion, grounded by the old memory. Moonkyu steps back into the room with two bottle of soda and a bag of biscuits, setting them down on the coffee table before settling down beside Jongin on the couch.

“So,” he says breathlessly, turning his full attention to Jongin. “Tell me everything.”

Jongin swallows, taking a deep breath and goes back to the very beginning. He goes with the condensed version of his days alone, leaving out the parts that Moonkyu doesn’t really need to know. No reason to burden him with the dark details when none of it was his fault.

It takes a while to get through everything he’s seen with the Vivapolo crew, his voice cracking a few times from talking so much. He catches himself with Chanyeol’s name on his tongue again and again, skirting around the extra bits of information, covering it up with more recollections of the things he’s seen. It’s hard to keep anything from Moonkyu anyway and Jongin loses himself in the memories flooding his mind, struggling to find the words to describe everything. 

“Wow,” Moonkyu breathes in awe once Jongin’s done talking. “That sounds like one hell of a– _wow_.”

Jongin chuckles hoarsely at Moonkyu’s loss for words, popping a biscuit into his mouth, suddenly ravenous. 

“So, what are you going to do now?” Moonkyu probes quietly, voicing the question Jongin has been mulling over for a long while. “Have you gone back to Base yet?”

“Not yet,” Jongin shakes his head. Something drops in his stomach at the thought of going back to the analytics lab for another year before they’re cleared to fly again. He’s surprised at himself; after all that, he hadn’t expected to feel anything other than dread at being sent off in a ship again. Maybe it’s because his mind is on a different ship, the Vivapolo, the team. Chanyeol. It’s hard to explain, difficult to even wrap his own head around it but it just feels like he needs to be out there in space, like it’s the only way he’ll feel at peace this time. He’s had a taste of what it really has to offer and he hasn’t had enough. 

“You want to go back don’t you?”

Jongin looks up at Moonkyu, his expression drawn soberly. 

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Jongin presses his lips together. Moonkyu has always been able to see right through him. He picks at a loose thread on the hem of his shirt, avoiding Moonkyu’s eyes.

“They’re going to Kepler-186f,” he starts quietly, thinking about the look in Chanyeol’s eyes when he’d told him, infectiously excited. “The wormholes are unpredictable, there’s no way of knowing when I’ll come back– ”

“I can see it in your eyes, Jonginnie,” Moonkyu says; he’s smiling right up to his eyes but Jongin can still hear the sadness in his voice. “You haven’t looked this excited about something since that planet simulation in senior year.”

“Hyung – ”

“Just,” Moonkyu cuts in again. “Promise you’ll come back to see me again someday? At least one more time. You can’t miss it when I get married and have kids.”

Jongin tries to swallow around the lump lodged in his throat, reaching out to hug Moonkyu tightly. He feels Moonkyu’s fingers jabbing into his sides when he clings too long, blinking away his tears. 

“Go, before your ship leaves.”

 

▸

 

There’s a lot to take care of now that he’s got his mind set on it, and very little time to get all of it done. The Vivapolo only has one more day to go before launching again. Jongin works on getting all his affairs in order, starting by handing in his resignation letter at the company. He sorts through his things in the office and then heads home to his small apartment, packing everything up and stuffing the things he really needs into one backpack. He’s already given Moonkyu the lease to take care of. 

Getting a hold of the right people to deal with his bills and cancel the renewals to several insurance bundles is a nightmare, taking him a whole lot longer to do than he’d hoped. He’s running out of time.  


He takes a cab back to the ship facility he arrived in, praying that he’s still on time. He jiggles his leg impatiently, gnawing on his lower lip anxiously when they get stuck in traffic. It’s strange how reversed it all is now, terrified of being left behind on Earth this time around. Everything he needs is on that ship and out in the light years of space and the stars he’s learned to love again. 

Jongin leaps out of the cab before the car has even pulled over, grabbing his backpack and racing into the giant building. He tears through the hallways, bumping into a couple of people until he reaches the docking port, searching frantically over the row of ships lined up in the bay. 

He spots the ship they arrived in down at the very end, already being prepped to leave and Jongin forces himself to go faster, almost tripping over himself. 

“Chanyeol,” he yells when he recognizes the back of his head, climbing into the ship and about to hoist the run-up door up closed behind him. 

Chanyeol freezes in his tracks, dropping the door and climbs back down slowly. His eyes are wide, his brows disappearing up behind his bangs when he sees Jongin hurtling towards him.

“What are you doing here?” he gapes, rubbing Jongin’s back when he bends over to hold himself up with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. His touch is familiar, and all Jongin wants is to burrow himself in the comfort of his warmth again. 

“I want to come with you,” Jongin heaves out, “I want- I need-”

The whole speech he’d prepared flies right out the window and his garbled rush of words comes out all wrong. He’s got a lot to say and a lot of explaining to do when he finally catches his breath, but for now he’ll get to the point. 

“I love you,” he blurts out, baring himself wide open. Chanyeol freezes, his breath catching in his chest and his brows tug together, studying Jongin’s face carefully. Jongin straightens up, looking him straight in the eye and waits, his heart in his throat. 

Chanyeol’s expression smoothes out and he laughs breathlessly, yanking Jongin forward and kisses him without preamble, coaxing Jongin’s mouth open to kiss him harder. 

“God, I love you too” he breathes, adoringly, almost reverently before reeling him in again and Jongin breathes him in, finally exactly where he wants to be.  
The sudden burst of yelling and cheers startles them apart and the rest of the crew comes filtering it, circling around them. Jongin doesn’t even flinch at the hard slaps he gets on his back, feeling just as elated to see them as they are to have him back. Baekhyun’s grinning particularly hard, reaching up to ruffle his hair fondly and Jongin sighs contently at the familiarity of it all. 

“Come on,” Chanyeol says, beaming so hard his face is splitting in half. “Let’s go home then.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a play on Coldplay's 'Fix You'line [Lights will guide you home]
> 
> **Baekchen side story sequel[Ignite Your Bones](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6520060) **


End file.
